Fighting Corona - The Memorial
In Ms. Kennedy’s 12th-grade History class they discussed tragic global, historical events and the purpose of memorials. The students were assigned with the task to design a memorial to commemorate the victims of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms. Kennedy asked her students to reflect on what they have learned about the pandemic so far, as well as what they think is the most important lessons for us all to remember. She then asked them what events, people, or ideas they would represent in their memorials. She shared this powerful description of Abraham Cohen's memorial.
Fighting Corona - The Memorial
by Abraham Cohen
I want the memorial to represent the pent up aggression from this pandemic. Many members of peoples’ families are dying, but we cannot physically join them as they fight the virus in hospitals. We cannot even sit down to join our family friends as they mourn. The coronavirus is affecting everyone from all races, ethnicities, and wealth classes. We must build a memorial as an outlet for our aggression and to highlight how many people are affected by this virus through the passing of their family members. Right now, we cannot confront the virus face-to-face. We are currently fighting the virus by backing down and social distancing. If it weren’t so dangerous, I would love to come into contact with the virus so I can fight it…literally.
The memorial will be a punching bag that looks like the virus. It will be round like a ball that has spikes on it. It will be placed somewhere in New York City. When this quarantine is over, people will form a line outside of the memorial and take turns fighting the virus, with one punch for each person they know who passed away. (There will also be stands where people can purchase Corona beer and Corona hard seltzer at a discount. If people have more beers in them they will definitely be more eager to fight and punch harder. The drive home will be sponsored by Uber.) There will be a screen behind the punching bag that counts the punches, showing how many people this pandemic affected. The score will certainly be higher than the amount of people that died, because the death of one person can affect multiple people. This will show how we are all connected, and that we are all in this together facing the same problem. The memorial will be an outlet for aggression, but it will more importantly symbolize all of humanity coming together, as everyone from billionaires to homeless people take turns punching the virus, reminiscing and cheering.
